An alternative report on gay rights in Russia has been recently sent to the UN Committee on Human Rights as an additional source of information to the 7th official periodic report on human rights filed by the Russian authorities earlier this month.

This document is special cause it is the first report made in response to the official stance. If previous reports did not contain any information on gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders, the present one (due to recommendations issued by the UN Committee on Human Rights on Russia) does have it. From the official point of view, no doubt, the LGBT rights in Russia are not being violated: there is no discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and Russian mass media are having unbiased discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity. The alternative reports proves it wrong...Now the UN experts have the possibility to be know the other side of the truth, e.g. gay hate statements by high ranking Russian officials and journalists which are left unpunished.

The report was signed by Kseniya Kirichenko ("Vykhod", "Raduga" legal aid for transgender people) and Maria Kozlovskaya (The Russian LGBT Network). It is dedicated to six major issues which seriously and badly affect the Russian queer community and human rights activists at present: violence against LGBT people, gay hate speeches of publicities in mass media, violation of the freedom on meetings, discriminative legislation (law that banned "propaganda of homosexuality" and its consequences), refusal to accept gender identity of transgender people, persecution of LGBT community and human rights activists in the framework of the law on "foreign agents".

According to Maria Kozlovskaya, "it is very important that we have filed the alternative report because it helps us to attract attention to the problems that LGBT people in Russia are facing with and which Russian officials at the UN are simply rejecting". Maria's position is agreed by Kseniya Kirichenko who noted that "the number of gay hate crimes and persecution of human rights activists in Russia had been just rising".